Mark Rollins is Professor in the Department of Philosophy, the Philosophy-Neuroscience-Psychology Program, and the Sam Fox School of Art and Visual Design at Washington University in St. Louis, where he has taught since 1987. He received his Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1986 in philosophy and also held a postdoctoral fellowship in the Society of Fellows there. Currently a Faculty Fellow in the Office of the Provost, Rollins has served as Chair of the Department for eight years and was previously an Associate Dean in both the College of Arts and Sciences and University College. He started and developed the Minds-Brains-Behavior program at Washington University. He has published books on the role of images in perception and cognition and as symbols in the arts. His current research concerns issues at the interface of cognitive science and aesthetics, such as the nature of pictorial representation in static and moving pictures, the identification of artistic and directorial intentions, how the visual system segments events and actions in film, and the concept of style.

Favorite Movie:

One of my favorite films is the classic Bob Rafelson movie, Five Easy Pieces, starring Jack Nicholson. In addition to the fact that the film deals with the subtleties of complex human relations and the dangers of cynicism and selfishness that can result when an intelligent and creative mind cannot find meaning and purpose in life, the acting and directing are incredibly skillful and moving. In the famous diner scene, for example (easily found on Youtube), every movement and word seems so choreographed but natural that it’s like a beautiful dance. Also, I think the film is a goldmine from the point of view of cognitive science. For instance, one theory of how we (or rather our brains) understand film is by the way we segment actions and events. The question is how we know when one event begins and ends. One natural answer is that there are narrative schemas that we map onto what we see. The scene I mentioned is obviously a restaurant scene or schema, defined by a regular sequence of events (sit down, order from the menu, eat, pay, leave). Activating that script gives us certain unconscious expectations, so that when Nicholson violates them, it has a very strong aesthetic effect. Some cognitive scientists argue that the effects of schemas stored in memory, the expectations they set up, are very hard to get rid of, even when we have seen the film before and know they’re going to be violated. That’s why (according to this argument) we enjoy watching the same scene over and over again. In some sense, our brains continue to be surprised even though consciously we know what’s coming. So this is a film that provides a powerful aesthetic experience as well as an opportunity to think about what’s going on in the mind/brain when that happens. (These are the pleasures of doing the cognitive science of the arts!)